boat shop replacing floor. question on encapsulating stringers

[fieromx3]

long story short, the floor in my boat is rotten but the stringers are surprisingly solid. they are damp but no rot. i have the boat at the shop and they are drying the stringers and replacing the floor. what they were going to do to keep cost down is just roll on epoxy over the dried stringer. my concern i thought of yesterday is since the stringers were damp would have to worry about the delaminating from the hull? from the factory they were only glassed halfway up the stringer. would i be better off drying them out and fully encapsulating them with fiberglass cloth/mat right down to the hull? i want to make sure they are strong and bonded to the boat. since they are half done alreay with polyester would i be better off to use epoxy instead of polyester? will epoxy adhere to the old hardend polyester?

 

[fieromx3]

Re: boat shop replacing floor. question on encapsulating stringers

also since they quoted me on it already. would it be better for them to just 'smother' the stringers in epoxy and let it cure then go over that with cloth/mat and epoxy resin?

 

[Georgesalmon]

Re: boat shop replacing floor. question on encapsulating stringers

If you mean there is wood inside the stringers and its damp, then I would not just flood with epoxy resin. I would sand everything real good and apply glass and polyester resin over them all. Making a fiberglass stringer so to speak where the wood is just a form and is not responsible for any strength. I think it would take months to dry the wood all the way through. The damp wood will rot inside the stringer but as long as you built strong Hat section stringers and bulkheads who cares? JMHO.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: boat shop replacing floor. question on encapsulating stringers

This ^^^ is VERY sound advice. The Glass Encapsulating the wood core is what gives the stringer the strength. It will take a long time for the wood to dry as George stated. 3 layers of CSM and 1708 fully wrapped and tabbed 6" on either side will give you a stringer that will be there forever and let the wood rot. Engineered stringers have no core material.

 

[a1964rn]

Re: boat shop replacing floor. question on encapsulating stringers

Depending on how wet the wood is? Have they drilled into the lower portion of the stringers? Are they wet at the bottom, where they are enclosed in fiberglass? If they're going to do it, they need to use cloth and epoxy to cover the stringers. Epoxy has better adhesion, strength, and moisture-proofing abilities. Most people on here don't feel epoxy is neccessary, but I believe that is due to cost. It's your boat, so you decide. Just do your research.
Good luck!

 

[fieromx3]

Re: boat shop replacing floor. question on encapsulating stringers

im not sure how wet the bottoms of the stringers are. they havent taken the floor out of the boat yet. i dunno about these guys they dont seem to interested in doing more work then what they had in mind. the tops of the stringers were wet and the section i had already cut out they are already dry.

i just dont want to go out this summer and next couple years having to worry about structural failure. the floor will be off so i want to do evrything this time. i dont think a full replacement of stringers is necessary as i think if treated properly it will last the minimum 5 years that id like to keep this boat

 

[73Chrysler105]

Re: boat shop replacing floor. question on encapsulating stringers

Well then get the boat tarped with a vent to vent the moisture and some heat lamps in there to get it dried out as quick as possible then encapsulate the stringers put in a new floor. This is all something you can do yourself instead of having a shop do it will cost you a lot less and you will know it's done right. Epoxy is the best material but poly would be fine if applied correctly especially with your mindset of changing the boat out in 5 years.

 

[fieromx3]

Re: boat shop replacing floor. question on encapsulating stringers

my main question is will polyester resin bond to the existing hardened fiberglass thats already halfway up the stringers and hull? if i use say 2 layers of heavy cloth/csm with polyester resin will i still produce a ridgid stringer that well bonded to the hull of the boat?

 

[fieromx3]

Re: boat shop replacing floor. question on encapsulating stringers

posted at same time chrylser. well i dont have anywhere or anytime to build the boat. i live in ontario canada and its way to cold outside to do that right now lol right now its in a heated shop and having someone do the work for me so its ready when spring hits. i have the money already and gave them half the payment. because im also having the rebuild the engine, re-seal the outdrive and bellows replacement etc.

if i can make the boat strong and ridgid i may keep it longer than 5 years. i just cant dish out another couple grand for a full stringer replacement

 

[73Chrysler105]

Re: boat shop replacing floor. question on encapsulating stringers

OK well hopefully they will get the stringers fully dried out before they encapsulate it. To answer your question yes poly to the existing fiberglass can be made to a strong joint just will take a few overlapping layers extending each layer 2-4 inches farther than the rest. This is done all the time. Epoxy creates a stronger mechanical bond than poly but poly is certainly usable. one thought in order to get the stringers better dried would be to drills some small holes about 1/4 - 1/3 the thickness of the stringer every 12-24 inches or so these with some localized heat will allow the water to escape the wood without weakening the wood. These holes then need to be filled with some PB or epoxy before encapsulating the fully dried stringers. Just need to be carefully to get the holes centered in the stringer and not drill through the hull. Some weep holes along the base of the stringer would also allow water to weep out the bottom while the heat is evaporating the water out of the top. All these would allow the stringers to dry faster but be a little more labor intensive. Maybe see if they would allow you to do some of the work on it to get the stringers dry prior to them encapsulating them might save you some money.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: boat shop replacing floor. question on encapsulating stringers

my main question is will polyester resin bond to the existing hardened fiberglass thats already halfway up the stringers and hull? if i use say 2 layers of heavy cloth/csm with polyester resin will i still produce a ridgid stringer that well bonded to the hull of the boat?

Yes you can use poly for All aspects of fiberglass boat repairs. Wood boats might be hit and miss on where you want to use epoxy.

If you dont trust your glass guys that are currently working on your boat .. then pull out as soon as you can.

If you do trust them .. then let them do their job.

YD.

 

[jimmy wise]

Re: boat shop replacing floor. question on encapsulating stringers

Yd I like the let them do their job.......if you don't trust the shop run

 

[SDSeville]

Re: boat shop replacing floor. question on encapsulating stringers

Epoxy is the best material but poly would be fine if applied correctly especially with your mindset of changing the boat out in 5 years.

Why would we not expect a proper poly job to last a good long time?

 

[73Chrysler105]

Re: boat shop replacing floor. question on encapsulating stringers

Why would we not expect a proper poly job to last a good long time?

I did not mean to say poly would not lat a good long time more was in direct correlation to the fact that the boat was not plannign on being in his possession for very long so not to spend the extra money on it. I am using epoxy in my boat but plan on passing it down for generations until Gasoline is not available anymore and even then it could be converted to an electric motor instead. So I will spend the extra money for the epoxy. No resin is water proof but it has been proven that epoxy is more water resistant and definitely stronger than poly resin.

But my point was for the OPs purpose poly is perfectly fine.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: boat shop replacing floor. question on encapsulating stringers

i dunno about these guys they dont seem to interested in doing more work then what they had in mind. the tops of the stringers were wet and the section i had already cut out they are already dry.

i just dont want to go out this summer and next couple years having to worry about structural failure. the floor will be off so i want to do evrything this time. i dont think a full replacement of stringers is necessary as i think if treated properly it will last the minimum 5 years that id like to keep this boat

I would be very suspicious of any boat shop in the frozen great white north that didn't want to take on as much work as they could in the winter, they should be on their knees begging you to do as much work as they can.

Those stringers will take quite a while to dry completely, they can feel dry on the top but still be sopping wet on the bottom.

Hurrying through a job like this will only make the repairs temporary.

 

[73Chrysler105]

Re: boat shop replacing floor. question on encapsulating stringers

I would be very suspicious of any boat shop in the frozen great white north that didn't want to take on as much work as they could in the winter, they should be on their knees begging you to do as much work as they can.

Those stringers will take quite a while to dry completely, they can feel dry on the top but still be sopping wet on the bottom.

Hurrying through a job like this will only make the repairs temporary.

I am in agreement on this